Life without parole

STOCKTON - Valida Raynette Irvin endured minute after minute of unfathomable torture until her death at the hands of a neighbor she had tried to help earlier that night.

Jennie Rodriguez-Moore

STOCKTON - Valida Raynette Irvin endured minute after minute of unfathomable torture until her death at the hands of a neighbor she had tried to help earlier that night.

For the vicious attack, 42-year-old Rajesh Kumar was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday, following courtroom statements - Kumar continued claiming his innocence, and Irvin's relatives pleaded for the maximum punishment.

"May his nights be haunted by the desperate images of my sister's face," said Della Beberette, reading a statement in court. "I believe he crawled out of the pits from hell to create pure evil."

"Kumar, you sicken me. ... You should have taken your own life," Beberette said, her voice trembling with pain and anger. "You are a predator. You're a coward and you're a liar."

Authorities arrested Kumar amid a mountain of evidence including DNA samples taken from Irvin's fingernails and knives inside his apartment. Video surveillance captured images of Kumar backing up Irvin's car near the entrance to his apartment, loading up the trunk of the car and driving to the trash bin.

Some witnesses had seen Irvin and Kumar together walking toward his apartment, and some witnesses heard screams coming from the unit the evening of the murder.

Irvin's mother and Beberette testified to last speaking with her at about 8:30 and 8:40 p.m.

Irvin indicated to them Kumar needed someone with whom to talk because he was mourning the death of his father in law, but according to evidence, his father in law had died long ago.

Kumar testified in his own defense, maintaining a man named "Mike" (either Irvin's boyfriend or ex-boyfriend) battered Irvin, cut her throat and then forced Kumar to dispose of her body.

But after hearing the evidence, jurors were confident Kumar was guilty of the crimes, and convicted him of first-degree murder and torture after only 15 minutes of deliberation.

Although a motive was not clearly defined, jurors have said they believed Kumar was attempting to rape Irvin.

Kumar appeared uncomfortable at his sentencing Monday, incessantly moving his hands and shielding his face from photographs while victim impact statements were read aloud.

Irvin's sister continued her statement.

"I am haunted by images of my sister fighting for her life, the horror that must have been seen from her eyes as she was gasping and choking on her own blood," Beberette said, her eyes covered by dark sunglasses.

"Kumar must have been outraged that my sister ignored and/or shot down his advances," she said.

Beberette wished an eternity in hell for Kumar, "where you suffer the same torturous acts that you did to my sister."

Beberette said her mother, Annette Curtis, to this day asks why the family had a closed casket funeral for Irvin, not having seen Irvin's disfiguring injuries.

"I am certain (Curtis) has lost her will to live," Beberette said.

Irvin, who was a shoe sales associate at Dillard's department store, was a caring and brave woman, Beberette said.

Irvin enjoyed music, and she was a fan of the Raiders football team, which fueled a fun rivalry because Beberette is a fan of the 49ers.

Beberette had hoped to see her single sister meet the love of her life, get married one day and have a family of her own.

"I will never see her warm smile," Beberette said.

Going back to the last phone conversation with Irvin, Beberette was leery of her sister being alone with Kumar in her apartment.

"However, she wanted to console a neighbor," Beberette said. "Someone who needed a friend, who had no one."

But Kumar continues to maintain he is not the killer.

Through Punjabi translator Surinder Sandlas, Kumar said in court: "I don't have any regrets for the jury's verdict."

"I wanted to tell the court that (Irvin) was my good friend," Kumar said, adding that he is "so sorry for her."

"I tell you here today I did not kill her. Even if I die after 20 years or 30 years, I will still say that I did not kill her."

Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa finds it hard to believe, he said, that Kumar, who emigrated from Pakistan when he was 29 years old, has a clean criminal history record in the U.S., considering the circumstances in the murder.

"It really makes me wonder what might have happened in the old country," Testa said.

Testa said if California's death penalty process was adequately working - it is stalled in litigation - he believes the District Attorney's Office would have sought the death penalty in this case.

"I do believe he deserves the death penalty," Testa said.

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Richard Mallet sentenced Kumar to the maximum punishment according to the conviction: life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"This is an inexplicable and horrific situation," Mallet said. "I don't know what's in your mind. The jury decided the case based on a significant amount of evidence ... and there was overwhelming evidence, circumstantial evidence of your guilt."

At the conclusion of the hearing, a group of jurors who had decided to attend the sentencing on their own time, hugged members of Irvin's grieving family.

Outside the courtroom, the victim's aunt, Debbie Beberette, had a brief comment.

"He didn't get what he deserved, but he got the best that we can do," she said.